‘The Idol’ stars The Weeknd, Lily-Rose Depp defend upcoming show after 'torture porn,' on-set toxicity claims
HBO and stars Lily-Rose Depp and Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye are defending upcoming music industry drama "The Idol" after an article alleged its production under director Sam Levinson has gone "wildly, disgustingly off the rails" and has turned into "torture porn." Director Amy Seimetz, of "The Girlfriend Experience," was originally hired to helm the drama before leaving after shooting 80% of the six-episode limited series, and Sam Levinson of "Euphoria" was brought in, according to Rolling Stone.The article claimed Tesfaye, who is a co-creator of the show, felt Seimetz was leaning too much into the "female perspective" of the story. However, sources told Variety that the outlet's insiders had not seen the finished product, which still reportedly represents a "female perspective." Meanwhile, the streaming service told Fox News Digital in a statement, "The creators and producers of ‘The Idol’ have been working hard to create one of HBO’s most exciting and provocative original programs.The initial approach on the show and production of the early episodes, unfortunately, did not meet HBO standards so we chose to make a change." HBO continued, "Throughout the process, the creative team has been committed to creating a safe, collaborative, and mutually respectful working environment, and last year, the team made creative changes they felt were in the best interest of both the production and the cast and crew.